I’ve been back from New York for about a week now and I can’t get it out of my head. (and I don’t just mean the new Jay-Z song… “let’s hear it for NEW YORRRRRRRK!!! These streets will make you feel BRAND NEW!!!...”) Truly though, just like Eve bit the apple - the apple bit me. That city has always had a special place in my heart. I think I went at least once every year as a kid – whether it was for spring break or one of the multiple business trips my Dad hauled me along on, I always seemed to keep landing back in New York. And it never felt scary or overwhelming - it felt familiar, exciting, big, and fun. My Dad knew that city almost better than he did LA. My last trip to NY was via the Chinatown bus from Boston to NYC. (goFung-Wa!!!) It was October of 2004, the Sox were about to finish off the Yankees at Game 7 in that epic American League Championship series, and my Dad scored two tickets on stubhub the night before. At 1:43pm I raced out of my Studio TV Production Class at Emerson, bragging to all the boys that I was racing to get on the bus to NY to catch the game. “Yeah – my Dad got tickets - I’m going to game 7!!!!” I boasted, clearly the coolest chick they’ve ever met. “Man, I can’t believe you’re going to that game – I so hate you right now! Your Dad’s wicked awesome,” I believe my friend Josh said to me as I slapped my red Sox hat on and waved goodbye. After 5 hours and 45 minutes on the bus, I was dropped in Chinatown in NY. I immediately hopped in a taxi and directed the driver to my Dad’s hotel. I raced up to my Dad’s room, threw my backpack on the bed, grabbed my gloves, ID, cell phone, and we hit the streets for the Subway to Yankee Stadium. And yes, both my Dad and I braved the NY streets, subway, and stadium – in full Red Sox glory. My mother was a nervous wreck at home, imagining us getting beat up and booed by those crazy Yankee fans. But we weren’t scared. And after surviving the subway we made it up to our seats just in time to see Johnny Damon’s lead off single to get the 10-3 win underway. Throughout the game the Yankee fans fell into a depression and sheepishly trickled out of the stadium as the proud Sox fans remained standing to cheer the boys victory into the World Series! Daddy and I practically lost our voices screaming so much. Back on the Subway, a very unhappy older woman paced and tumbled up and down our car yelling into space, “The Red Sox SUCK!!!!!! NO ONE WILL EVER BE BETTER THAN JETER!!!!!” I squeezed my arm tight around my Dad’s, hoping she wouldn’t come harass us while rehearsing a panicky monologue in my head to defend myself in case she got in my face, “Please! I’m really a Dodgers fan deep down! I just went to school in Boston and I really like the Red Sox and the Yankees are still really good but they always win so it’s okay that the Sox did just this one time, and I’m sorry your pitching sucked tonight but please don’t pull my hair!!!” We made it back on the street without any scars, and I think that was one of the quietest nights in New York City ever in history. The only people on the street were Boston lovers. It was as if we were all cheering on their grave. Then Daddy took me to Carnegie Deli, one of our late night NY traditions, and shared a corn beef sandwich, a bowl of chicken soup with kasha, and each had a chocolate egg cream. Mmmmm. Then we went to his favorite bar,Seppi’s, and we had one last celebration drink. The next morning, in the wake of World Series reality, I hugged Daddy goodbye on the curb and hopped on the bus at 6am to make it to class by 2. And that was my last, and best, New York memory with my Dad.
I’m calling this cookie, the Big Apple Cookie – a tribute to the city that almost feels like a home away from home – where not only my best memories and some of my best friends remain, but walking those streets I could feel my Dad’s presence and energy with me like I haven’t felt in a long time. I want to hold tight to that feeling for as long as I can. And anytime I need another taste to keep me satisfied until I make it back to the Big Apple one day, I can bake this cookie.
INGREDIENTS
3 cups flour (plus a few tablespoons to sprinkle on board)
¾ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
½ cup butter
¾ cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1 cup apple sauce
about 2 tbls powdered sugar
red sugar crystals
small handful of raisins
small handful of tiny twist pretzels
cinnamon-sugar for sprinkling on top
Average cook time:
20 minutes prep
minimum 2 hours freezer
minimum 1 hour refridgerator
10-12 minutes bake time at 375°
1st) Sift together your dry ingredients: flour, baking powder, and salt.
2nd) Whip the butter and sugar together til fluffy, then add your egg and whip that in too.
3rd) Gradually add in your apple sauce while beater is still going... careful so it doesn't splatter!
4th) Continue to beat on high until as incorporated as can be...
5th) Now, slowly add your dry ingredients.
6th) Once all dry ingredients are in, batter should be nice and smooth and start to pull away from the sides of the bowl.
7th) Before rolling out, spread a thin layer of flour and powdered sugar on your board.
8th) Form your dough into a large log...
It's sticky! So don't be afraid to be generous with the powdered sugar!
9th) Now, slice your dough in half.
10th) Wrap one in plastic wrap and put in the refrigerator to work with later. Place the other one on your floured/sugared board. 
11th) Sprinkle the log with the red crystal sugar and go ahead and roll it around in there a bit..
12th) Place a chopstick along the center of the log and press it down a bit. (I know random, stick with me...)
13th) Now wrap up the chopstick-log, and place in the freezer for 2 hours. This way it can harden in this shape. But before you want to bake it, let it thaw in the fridge for another hour at least. (It can be kept in the freezer for a month if you want! Just a few days in the fridge though.) Okay, so now that you've imagined it's chilling process, take it out and unwrap it. (make sure your board is adequately sprinkled again)
14th) Slice the log into about 1/4 inch thick slices. 
15th) place each slice with enough room around it onto your lightly greased cookie sheet.
16th) Enter raisins and pretzels!!!
17th) Break off a little piece of the pretzel, this will serve as the apple stem. (Girls, remember when you were an eager teenager and used to twist the apple stem before you ate your apple and with each twist you said the letters of the alphabet and whatever letter the stem snapped off at was the first letter of the name of the boy you were going to be with?? ahahah, mine always snapped off around C. hmmm. and I won't lie, I ate an apple yesterday and still did the boy-twist.) 
18th) Now place raisins and pretzels to make little apple slices!
19th) Bake your apple slices for about 10-12 minutes or until golden brown.
20th) Once out of the oven, sprinkle generously with cinnamon-sugar. (To give your sliced apple that nice, brown, oxydized look.) 
21st) Transfer to wire wrack to cool. (yeah, of course I took a bite.)
22nd) and there you have it - a slice of the Big Apple, whenever you need a bite.
((many of these photos were taken by that great photographer, David Nemer))
